Northwest Territories is the second largest of the three territories in Canada extends from the 60th parallel to the North Pole. It has several large islands located in the Arctic Ocean. The Yukon (Territory) is to the west and the Arctic Ocean is north. Nunavut (Territory) is east, British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan are south. Yellowknife is the capital city. It is also known as the Diamond Capital of North America. The largest community is the capital city of Yellowknife. Most people are living in the Mackenzie River Valley or around Great Slave Lake. Great Bear Lake is the eighth largest lake in the world. Great Slave Lake is the deepest lake in Canada and tenth largest lake in the world. Mackenzie River is Canada’s longest river (1738 km).

The entire river system is 4241 km long making the Mackenzie River the second longest river in North America. The climate is long nights during the winter and long days during the summer. Main resources are oil and natural gas exploration, commercial fishing on Great Slave Lake (lake trout, whitefish, and pickerel) and tourism – people come to see the wildlife and natural beauty

The only post-secondary institution in the NWT is Aurora College. The former Arctic College was split into Aurora College and Nunavut Arctic College when Nunavut Territory was created in 1999. Aurora College has campuses in Inuvik, Fort Smith, and Yellowknife. It has learning centers in many other communities in the NWT. In 2001 and 2002, Aurora College implemented four literacy projects with funding from Human Resources and Social Development Canada to support increasing literacy across the territory.

The territorial Department of Education, Culture, and Employment is the government agency responsible for post-secondary education in the Northwest Territories. There two career colleges located in the NWT. The Academy of Learning is located in Yellowknife and provides business information technology courses. In addition, Great Slave Helicopters Flight Training Centre applies Global Positioning Systems training for helicopter pilot education.